Google adds fingerprint support to Chrome on Android and Mac in latest beta

Google Chrome’s latest beta is adding a useful update to the popular browser: support for fingerprint sensors on Android and Mac devices, which will allow developers to use biometrics as an extra layer of security, via 9to5Google.

The update will let Chrome utilize the existing Android fingerprint sensors and MacBook Pro Touch ID sensors for its scans. There’s no word yet on whether other forms of biometric security, like Windows Hello fingerprint scanners or Touch ID on older iOS devices, will eventually see the update as well.

The Chrome 70 beta has a few other interesting features: Web Bluetooth support is coming to Windows 10, giving Chrome the option to communicate with other nearby Bluetooth devices. (Other versions of Chrome already had the feature.)

Google is also introducing a new experimental Shape Detection API that will let users identify faces, barcodes, and text in images, including scanning QR codes.

Chrome will now automatically exit full-screen mode when dialog boxes for things like authentication prompts, payments, or file pickers pop up, so users will have better context for decisions when filling those prompts out.